Layer 2 Device Load Balancing via VLAN Traffic Domains
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Solution Overview
Problem
Load balancing for layer 2 devices is challenging due to their lack of IP addresses, leading to difficulties in maintaining persistence across multiple requests in a user's session, and existing solutions require significant resources and can affect network manageability.
Innovation Solution
The use of virtual local area networks (VLANs) to logically divide traffic and create traffic domains, allowing each layer 2 device to have its own ingress and egress domains with subnet IP addresses, enabling load balancing without direct communication between instances in different domains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If two instances present in separate traffic domains want to communicate with one another, then network security and isolation are improved, but communication between instances requires routing outside the intermediary device, increasing network complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides network traffic into separate traffic domains using VLANs, creating isolated communication environments. Each traffic domain is assigned a unique VLAN ID, ensuring that instances in different domains cannot directly communicate, thereby improving security and reliability while maintaining manageable network structure through logical segmentation rather than physical complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediary device acts as a mediator between traffic domains by implementing load balancing services that allow controlled communication between domains. The device receives traffic from one domain, processes it through load balancing logic, and forwards it to appropriate destinations in other domains, eliminating the need for complex external routing while maintaining domain isolation
2Productivity
If virtual machines are used to implement load balancing functionality, then load balancing capability is improved, but resource consumption increases and network manageability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements load balancing functionality directly within the intermediary device's existing traffic domain management architecture, allowing the same device to perform both traffic domain isolation and load balancing functions. This eliminates the need for separate virtual machine instances, reducing resource consumption while maintaining comprehensive load balancing capability across multiple services and protocols
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines load balancing functionality with the traffic domain management system by integrating load balancing logic into the intermediary device's core routing and VLAN management processes. This merging eliminates redundant virtual machine overhead while improving overall system efficiency and manageability through unified control
3Productivity
If load balancing is implemented for layer 2 devices, then service distribution is improved, but persistence maintenance becomes challenging due to lack of IP addresses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends IP address functionality to layer 2 devices by assigning virtual IP addresses to traffic domains and services. This parameter change allows the intermediary device to track session information using IP addresses even when communicating with layer 2 devices that traditionally lack IP addresses, thereby maintaining service persistence while enabling load balancing distribution
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediary device serves as an intermediary that bridges layer 2 devices and the IP-based load balancing system. It translates layer 2 traffic into IP-addressable traffic domains, maintains session state information in its routing tables, and ensures persistent connections are maintained across load balancing operations, solving the persistence challenge for layer 2 device load balancing
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for providing load balancing for layer 2 devices. A device intermediary to a plurality of clients and a plurality of servers and a plurality of layer 2 devices establishes, for each layer 2 device, a first traffic domain corresponding to ingress traffic received from the plurality of clients and a second traffic domain of the device corresponding to ingress traffic received from the plurality of clients. The device associates a first virtual local area network (VLAN) with the first traffic domain and a second VLAN with the second traffic domain. The device establishes a plurality of services. Each service corresponds to a layer 2 device and includes a corresponding subnet internet protocol (SNIP) address hosted on the device. The device establishes a virtual server to load balance the plurality of services corresponding to each of the plurality of layer 2 devices.